Shihouin Naruto: Power of the King
by Harold Jackel
Summary: It started out as an average day in the average life of one very average Shihouin Naruto. A blonde boy with an average personality and quite possibly an OCD to do anything that his mother says. Then he died. Well, sorta. AU: Bleach/Naruto crossover
1. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto and Bleach. They belong to their respective owners, Masashi Kishimoto and Kubo Tite.

**Shihouin Naruto: Power of the King**

**Chapter One: Early Morning's and Reminiscence **

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'_Somebody, help me…' His body couldn't move; the pain was simply overwhelming. Every limb hurt, and every little movement only made the pain worse. The smell of fire and smoke seeped into his nostrils, making him cough violently as it ventured into his lungs._

Conflict does not determine who is right…

"_Please, somebody, anybody, help me!" he shouted. Although his voice was hoarse, and his body ached everywhere, he didn't care. He was desperate, and he hoped... _hoped_ that someone would hear his voice, that maybe... _maybe_ someone would come and save him, save him from the pain._

… It determines who is left_._

'_The pain… it hurts, it hurts so much …so much….' This was the only thought that ran through his hazy mind, all hope diminished as he realized that no one was going to save him, no matter how loud he shouted, no matter how many times he would cry for help. _

That is why in conflict, one needs power...

'_It hurts, please make it stop!' He was hysterical now, but the pain was so great that he barely registered little else. _

...Power to fight.

'_Am I… am I g-going to die?' In his pain induced mind, that single, horrifying thought came to him _

...Power to survive.

'_I don't…I don't want to die…'_

Power…

'_I don't want to die!'_

… To **live**

'_I want to…live!'_

'_**How much do you want to…live**__?' a familiar whisper rang. _

'_Huh?' His eyes widened and tried to turn his small head to find where the voice came from._

'_**I can help you live.' **__There it was again, the soft, soothing whisper in his mind. He recognized it now. It was the feminine, purr-like voice he would hear in his dreams, the comforting murmur in his mind that always put him to sleep. '__**But to live, you need… power.'**_

'_P-power...?'_

'_**Yes,'**__ it was then that he realizedthat he could not stop listening. The voice was like a balm, soothing his pained mind,__** 'I can give you power….'**_

'…_**The Power of the King.'**_

_**

* * *

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The sun had yet to rise when he awoke, the air was still cold and everything was dark. 4:07A.M the clock to his left read, and he barely had a wink of sleep from the night before. Sighing, Naruto sat up from his bed and resigned himself to another very early morning. He turned off the alarm that was supposed to wake him up much later, stood up and made his bed quietly as the cold air passed through his window. Once done, he turned and left his room to go to the kitchen to make himself an impromptu breakfast. "Omelettes and bacon should do," he muttered to himself as he walked down the stairs that lead to the living room.

"Naruto…" A voice called to him once he was down the stairs. He stopped and looked up at its owner, a purple haired woman rubbing her eyes from the top of the staircase, looking down at him with a drowsy expression. "Was it another nightmare?" she asked him sleepily. Naruto nodded.

The woman sighed and scratched the top of her head, "These are really getting in the way of your sleep," she said with a worried crease of her brows, "Are they still about ….that?" This she asked with a soft gaze. Naruto nodded, "Did your scar hurt too?" Naruto hesitated at that. The scar she referred to was located between the junction of his neck and shoulder, in the shape of a bite-like wound. It hurt a great deal.

"A little bit." Naruto answered softly. It wasn't a total lie, at least.

The woman frowned thoughtfully before walking down the stairs until she was in front of him. She bowed slightly and gently touched the scar on his neck. Naruto flinched a little; she smiled, ruffled his hair before kissing his scar. "Come on then," she said, looking at the flustered blond with an endearing gaze "Let's you and me talk about it over breakfast, I'll cook," she added with a beautiful smile, something Naruto couldn't help but return.

* * *

She looked across the table, absentmindedly picking at her food as she watched the small blond boy eating his food with gusto. She smiled, the boy had an appetite that could match her own, and that was saying a lot. The blond boy drank a large helping of water and gave a small burp, blushing as he covered his mouth when he realized what he had done. Shihouin Yoruichi smiled, something that she found herself doing a lot more lately.

She suddenly snickered, softly at first, before finally laughing out loud. Naruto continued to eat, somewhat used to his woman's antics, while she continued to laugh with carefree abandon. It was as if there was something immensely funny that only she could hear.

"My, my," she said as she finally stopped laughing, but she was still smiling, albeit mischievously. "You really have an appetite, don't you? Or is my cooking just that good?"

The small boy bobbed his head up and down enthusiastically, obviously showing his agreement. Doing this made his spiky blond hair follow his head, making one of his golden locks cover a part his left eye. "It's really good!" he exclaimed, before noticing what happened to his hair. Frowning, he tried to blow it back, but only succeeded in making it go half way there before going back down again. Now annoyed, he reached up with his left hand to put the lock back in place, but Yoruichi reached over and combed his hair with her fingers. Somewhat ironically, the dark-skinned woman ruffled his hair a little before retracting her hand, smiling all the while.

"Hey," Naruto huffed indignantly, "What was the point of doing that when you were just going to mess it up again?"

"I think we need to get you a haircut," she said, changing the topic. She then hid her grin as an idea came to her, "Or your hair might come to life and leave you!" she exclaimed with mock fear. "You'll go bald and everybody will see your shiny head!"

"Ehh!" the blond boy suddenly covered his hair with his hands, looking frightened. Yoruichi nodded, pretending to be serious.

"And maybe it will come back to you and eat you when it gets bigger," she tried to stop herself from outright laughing when she saw his blue eyes go wide, "Just because you didn't treat it right when it was still with you!" The blond looked down right horrified now, and he was about ready to cry. She tried to look serious, but a few snickers escaped her before she stopped trying and finally let out the laughter she was holding back.

Naruto looked at her and realized what happened. His face flushed with embarrassment and he pouted, puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms. "It's not funny…" He muttered, too embarrassed to say it out loud. He sniffed as the tears that formed in his eyes earlier were ready to slip. Yoruichi noticed this, and forced herself to stop laughing.

"I'm sorry," she said, although there were still a few snickers. Naruto just pouted and turned his head away, cheeks still puffed. "I'm sorry," she repeated as she finally controlled herself, "You just look so cute when you're like that!"

"Whatever," Naruto said as he stood up from the chair. Yoruichi could plainly see Naruto's lobster-red ears and held back a guffaw. Naruto still didn't look at her as he neatly put the chair in its place, "I'm going upstairs now."

The shape shifter merely made an acknowledging sound as she continued to watch the boy's retreating back. Slowly, the smile vanished, and she remembered Naruto's somewhat horrifying past.

She frowned and placed her elbows on the table.

She was getting attached to him more and more each day. It was a phenomenon she thought impossible, but she could not help it; the blond boy had filled her days with joy that she thought was something she can only gain through battle. Ever since coming into her life, Naruto had given her almost hollow life a purpose, something to care for besides her safety, something to rejoice and nurture.

He gave her himself

He gave her a son.

Her life had never been quite the same after that fateful day…

* * *

**One year ago…**

The light of the new day shined down on her with a promise of a bright weather and little to no chance of rain. There were people bustling about and children playing together on the streets of Karakura town, none of them noticing her as she walked casually among them, although she'd notice that there were some who would find another path once they saw her, and she knew by experience that those were the type of people who listened to the ramblings of the superstitious elderly.

Since only the old people would say that a black cat crossing your path was would bring bad luck, after all.

So there she was, an inconspicuous black cat walking on all fours with her head shining with intelligence way above the standards of the feline race. She was observing the people, watching the adults wearing suits walk with briefcases as they went to work, seeing some of the students hanging out in the local restaurant – she suspected them of cutting classes, since it was still a minutes after ten o' clock – and she also saw that there were parent's that watched over their children, smiling and laughing as they played and run about.

It was a relatively normal place, Yoruichi decided. Besides the abnormal amounts of spiritual activity that sometimes beset the town, that is. Even now, there were faint but prominent traces of spiritual energy scattering about, traces that attracted Hollows and spirits to the unsuspecting town, which would then lead to a scuffle with the Shinigami.

She had just visited her exiled friend Urahara Kisuke, and she decided to explore the town right after. She thought that it would have been a more interesting place, having a reputation of being one of the most, if not the most, Hollow-active towns in the records. Though there was a part of her that wanted to see some action, to see some sort of fight between the Shinigamis and the Hollows, since her life has been downright boring the past hundred years, she then thought of the proximity that it would bring Soul Society's agents to her friend. It would have been a very close, which could lead o his capture, and then his execution. And that would be bad.

No one would supply her with milk then. And food.

But then fate had to be the self righteous bitch that it was and make a spike of an abnormally high reiatsu just as she wanted the day to stay the way it was.

'_Guess I spoke too soon,'_ she thought with a heavy mental sigh. Her nimble legs carried her to where she felt it, and in the distance, she could see a crowd forming around something...

She stared at the thick mass of rising smoke, alarmed, _'What the-?'_

_

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**Author's Notes: **There we go, the first chapter of my first fanfic. Thank you for reading.

I do hope you enjoyed reading that. It's a little something I've always wanted to post, the idea of Yoruichi adopting Naruto, just with my own little twist.

I want to thank my wonderful Beta-reader for editing this, and putting up with my freakishness. Hehe

Review! Your suggestions and comments could always help! And I accept **Constructive Criticism. **Flame me, and I will hunt you down and slaughter you. ^_^


	2. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto and Bleach. They belong to their respective owners, Masashi Kishimoto and Kubo Tite.

Lawyers, don't freakin' sue me!

**Shihouin Naruto: Power of the King**

**Chapter Two: What Happened Before Yoruichi**

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Naruto woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. It was white, and had little to no cracks on it.

This was obviously not his room, which had a cement-gray ceiling and cracks that he could count forever and still not figure out how many there were. Or _maybe_ that was because he still couldn't count past ten.

Shaking the random thoughts away, he blinked. 'Where-?'

The rustling of clothes alerted him to the presence of someone else in the room. Then a loud voice said, "Tell the doctor he's awake!" making him turn his head to find a woman in a white uniform with a clipboard (which was almost falling from her hands) to his left. She had an astonished look on her face, making him wonder what the fuss was all about. He scrunched up his brows as the sound of her voice rang in his head. It was starting to give him a headache. Why did she have to shout anyway?

The sound of the door opening and footsteps told him that someone else had just arrived. "Impossible!" another voice said, and it was equally loud as the first one. He winced again, what was with everyone and shouting today? Was it another game the old matron lady made up and he didn't know? Whe-?

Suddenly, he froze.

'The old lady…' the thought of the kind old woman made him remember. The last sight he saw of her was when she was crushed by the ceiling as she shouted for the children to get to a safe place, away from the scorching hot fire that seemed to be everywhere.

'The orphanage…' He sat up from the bed with wide eyes, not noticing the nurse's frantic movements as she made her way to his side, ordering him to lie down.

He wasn't listening. The only thoughts running through his head were the memories of the sound of children shouting and crying, trying desperately to run away, trying to hide from the horrible flames that devoured everything in sight. His home…

"Please, you need lie down," the woman's voice finally reached his ears, "Your wounds might open up if you force yourself to move," she said as she put her hands on his shoulder. She tried to softly put him back down to bed.

Naruto allowed the nurse to gently put him back down on the bed, his body was not responding as his mind was still reeling from the shock of the things he remembered.

When he finally did recover, he looked up and his eyes met the woman's worried look. He turned his gaze away from her and observed his surroundings:

He was in a room, everything was white, and the smell of antiseptic was very imminent. There was another nurse, the new arrival in the room, with the clipboard from earlier in her hand as she flipped its pages with a confused and incredulous expression. This was a hospital room, he was in a hospital.

"This is just impossible!" the doctor shouted again, but this time Naruto did not mind as much. His ears were finally used to it and his head no longer hurt, although he did wonder why she was still shouting.

"He shouldn't even be able to wake up yet, let alone move!" the doctor looked vexed, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle and couldn't get it right. She looked like the kids from the orphanage when the matron gave those puzzles and games for them to play with.

The other kids…

"Where, where are they? Wh-where is everyone?" Naruto asked in a small, barely audible voice.

The nurse and the doctor heard though, and looked very reluctant to answer his question. When the nurse by his side finally opened her mouth and looked ready to answer him, she was interrupted.

"They're dead," a new voice stated bluntly, making him crane his head to see a doctor with odd silver hair and white framed glasses on his face.

Naruto felt something strange, as if there was a subtle pressure in the air that made his body feel heavier.

He realized it was because of what the man said.

His blue eyes widened, "What?"

The newly arrived visitor turned to the other doctor who was gaping at his insensitivity (He was talking to a child!), "Thank you, doctor, for checking on him while I was away on rounds. However, this child is officially my patient. So if you could just..."

She harrumphed and turned to the door, but not before sending the blonde a sympathetic glance. Nodding curtly at Ishida Ryuuken, the doctor briskly walked out of the room.

"De-de-_dead?!_" Naruto felt his breathing get heavier, making him greedily gulp up large amounts of air. Dead…they were dead

The silver-haired doctor chose to ignore his question in favor of looking at his chart. He flipped a few pages, nodded to himself, and said, "Yes, I think you'll stay here for another two weeks or so."

What was with this man? Didn't he hear his question? Why was he ignoring him? His eyes were stinging, his chest was heaving, but the man continued to ignore him like he wasn't even there, still looking at the stupid clipboard with those disinterested eyes and flipping through them.

Even with all his distress, Naruto pointed the man with the best (or rather, worst) glare he could muster. The man gave him a glance once, and after adjusting his glasses, asked.

"What is your name, boy?"

Naruto blinked, momentarily startled by his question. " Na-ru-" He took a deep breath. "Naruto," he answered clearly

"_Full_ name."

Naruto tossed him an irritated glare. "Uzumaki Naruto," he answered, this time without hesitation.

Ryuuken took out a pen from his breast-pocket and wrote down on the clipboard. He nodded at Naruto

"Now, let me ask you a few questions."

* * *

Spectacular. It was the only word that ran through his mind as he read the test results of one Uzumaki Naruto. The gears in his head still turned at the notion of a mere four year old surviving such a critical state and recovering at an incredible pace.

It never occurred to him that beings such as this _child_ existed outside the world of Hollows and Shinigamis. While Quincy in themselves were different, they were still human, they still age like humans, they recover like living souls that had their flesh torn or their ribs cracked: Painfully and slowly.

Ryuuken took another look on the results in his hand. Nine cracked ribs, spine had been dislocated – he didn't even know how _that_ happened-, skull cracked, third degree burns...

This child was no human! No_ human_ could go through such extreme conditions and survive! Humans didn't recover at such an impossible rate!

If this _child_ was an ordinary human, he'd be nothing but a vegetable by now, forced to eat and breathe through a tube. Not to _mention _the third degree burns would probably cost him a fortune in plastic surgery.

He glanced at Naruto's perfectly _smooth_ and tanned arms. He didn't even have bruises.

Even if he were to ignore the miraculous recovery of his spine and burns, there was still no explaining the cracked ribs.

In the last X-ray, two ribs had even pierced his lungs.

Ryuuken closed his eyes and counted to ten.

It was astounding... It was beyond the realms of human capabilities... It was supernatural.

Opening them, he adjusted his glasses and heaved a mental sigh

Supernatural or not, it was no longer his concern.

Being Quincy was no longer what he was. Disrupting the order of life is no longer his profession. He was merely a doctor, checking on his patient.

As he looked down once more to his blond haired patient, he heard Naruto mumbled something under his breath, sounding specifically like a question.

"Hm?" Ryuuken said, adjusting his glasses "Did you say something?"

"Are there anyone else?" the blond-haired boy asked quietly, "Besides me?" he looked very anxious to know the answer

Ryuuken remained silent.

With a sigh, Ryuuken spoke:

"I'm sorry, Naruto. They all died in that terrible fire." Being soft with this was obviously something he needed to do, since the child looked traumatized enough.

Naruto nodded and kept his head down. Looks like he already knew…

"You were the only survivor, and you're lucky to be alive."

Naruto heard the doctor's footsteps as he turned away from him. Walking to the door, Ryuuken opened it and said, "Always know that you living is a gift from all those who perished. Treat your life preciously, kid."

'_Cause I have a feeling it's about to get weirder for you from now on.'_

Nodding to the nurse, who watched the whole affair take place quietly, the silver-haired physician told her that he would check up on him later.

The door closed with a soft 'click', and Naruto was left alone with nothing but the sound the nurse fussing about, making him realize that everything he had, everyone he cared for was_ gone._

He closed his eyes and let his head fall back to bed.

* * *

The rays of moonlight seeped through the windows of the hospital room, dimly lighting its dark corners. The window curtains swayed up and down, up and down, as the cold night air blew its feather light sheets. It was the perfect atmosphere to fall asleep to, where everything was silent, and everything was peaceful.

Yet, one little boy lay awake, eyes wide and staring up at the white ceiling of the hospital room.

Naruto was getting used to it, since he was staring up at it most of the time. It was a strange feeling: sleeping in a room that was not your own. Though the bed he used now was a little more comfortable than one back in the orphanage, he found himself unable to sleep on it.

For even if this was softest bed he would ever lay on, it was not his.

Naruto missed that bed, even with all its flaws; it suited his back just fine. The pillow was just right for him, so unlike this over-stuffed one he was using now. There were other things that made him miss that bed, too.

Since he had been using it for as long as he could remember, it was where he stayed most of the time, when he wanted to be alone, or when he wanted to hide something under its pillows. And once, he refused to remember when, he even wetted its sheets.

When the other kids found out what he did, they laughed at him, teased him, and called him names. The matron told them to stop, and said that they wetted their beds a lot more than he. They wouldn't, so the matron told them that she would hang their sheets and show them to other people the next time they wetted their beds.

Needless to say, the children stopped making fun of him quickly.

A small smile tugged on his lips before it quickly vanished as more tears welled up in his eyes. He sobbed.

"_There, there," he remembered her saying, "It's going to be alright now," she told him, "See, see, they already stopped!"_

"_Naruto, don't cry," she kept on telling him. "Come on now, aren't you supposed to be a big boy? Big boys don't cry!"_

Naruto tried to really stop crying, he was a big boy! He was a big boy already!

The sobs continued to rack his body.

"_Come on now, will you stop crying? For me?" she said as she rubbed his back before finally letting him back on the ground. _

_Naruto wiped the tears that were on his face, looked up at the old lady and said, "Okay," he sniffed "I won't cry ever again." He gave her a clumsy smile, "For you."_

That was a year ago. He was four now.

He only needed to bend his thumb to count his age by his fingers. When he turned five, he'd have an open palm and move on to the next hand. He was bigger now than he was when he was three, and he could even count past five!

He shouldn't cry anymore, because big boys don't cry! But…

He sat up and got out of bed, flinching when his feet touched the cold floor. When he stood up and saw that the door was closed, he went to the left corner of the bed side, the most obscured pat of the room, and sat: hugging his knees to his chest and laid his forehead to his kneecaps.

She wasn't here anymore, the old lady wouldn't know that he was crying, and the promise he made to her didn't matter now.

So, maybe it's okay to cry.

No one was watching anyway…

* * *

Life was unpredictable. Sometimes it feels like your in heaven, surrounded by friends, respected by comrades, and hailed as a legend by many. Next thing you know, your making a choice to leave all that behind to save your best friend from possibly a brutal execution from the hands of the people he worked for.

Huh. Maybe that was just hers?

Nonetheless, she knew life. How its ferocity was the only equal to its fickleness. How its victims had dreams they had the potential to fulfill, dreams that could shield them from reality, the reality of life and its brutal machinations.

Alas, dreams were but dreams, and life taught anyone who thought otherwise

Perched atop a tree branch, Yoruichi watched what happened through the windows. Her yellow eyes were soft with sympathy, knowing all that mattered to the boy was probably taken from him, so suddenly, so cruelly…

Life has struck this little boy when he was barely even beginning to dream.

She saw how his shoulders shook and his fist clenched with the unheard sobs that raked his body, and how his position made him look vulnerable. Yoruichi couldn't help herself; the overwhelming feeling of wanting to hug the tiny blond and comfort him suddenly overcame her sense.

_Damn it_, she cursed, _I'm getting soft_.

Comforting someone was never her forte, but as she continued to stare at the child's prone form, Yoruichi sighed unhappily at herself.

'Got nothing else to do anyway.' Which was true. The last century had been incredibly boring

Plus, it was quite sad watching him there, a pitiable four-year-old, who had nothing in the world now. He was so lonely.

'Well we can't have that now, can we?' Jumping down from where she once sat, the woman-turned-cat landed on the windowsill. She scratched the glass, hoping to get a reaction from the child.

* * *

"Meow."

Naruto raised his head from his knees, focusing his glistening eyes while looking around the room. What was that noise?

_Scratch_ "Meow."

He looked at the window. A black cat with yellow, eerie eyes was staring at him unblinkingly from the window. He tilted his head curiously at it, the tears still evident against his cheeks. Naruto thought something was off about the cat, but he didn't ponder about it too much.

He was still numb, after all.

"Meow." _Scratch._

_Scratch._

_Scratch._

It was starting to get annoying. Sighing, Naruto stood up from his curled position and slowly walked towards the window. He stood in front of the glass for a few moments, staring oddly at the yellow-eyed cat as he pondered what the hell he was doing. The cat scratched the window again.

"All right, all right already!" Naruto relented, "I'll let you in."

Naruto gingerly opened the window as the cat slid through the tiny opening gracefully.

She landed on the floor with barely a sound.

The cat looked up at the child's face, curious about his appearance. She hadn't really seen his face since she saw him curled up in his little corner, crying, so she decided that now would be a good time.

Cerulean, blue eyes, a slightly chubby face with the sunniest blonde hair.

Perhaps it was because she was in her feline form, which made her instincts more refined and made her more vulnerable to impulsive mannerisms. Because as she jumped at the surprised little boy, a girlish squeal invaded her mind, something she—a _woman— _would never do.

'_He's just so cuuute!'_

* * *

So began the rather odd relationship of Naruto and Yoruichi

* * *

**Author's Note: **Woohoo! Second Chapter posted! Finally!

Sorry for the delay, I would've posted this a week earlier, but I had some family business and my beta has some internet connection problems, among other things. So if there are any errors, please be so kind as to tell me. I'd appreciate it. Really.

Next chapter is gonna be out faster. I hope.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, alerted and put this story on their favorites. Seriously, I didn't expect so many to alert this story,

It's just a shame they don't review T_T

People! Don't you know how wonderful it feels to open my email and find people reviewing my story? Well, finding alerts are okay as well, just not as wonderful.

So, Read and Review!


	3. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto and Bleach. They belong to their respective owners, Masashi Kishimoto and Kubo Tite.

**Shihouin Naruto: Power of the King**

**Chapter Three: Experiences  
**

00000000

—"_Perhaps they are clueless, helpless and weak_

_But they are children_

_And their smiles_

_Are the most precious treasures _

_That one could ever cherish"_—

00000000

**Present Time**

Sighing, Yoruichi pushed back from the table and stood up with her mind back to the present, stretching her slender body to get some of the kinks out of her bones, like a cat. An old habit of hers. She glanced at the clock, and sighed when she saw it was barely past six in the morning.

She rubbed her eyes warily.

Now normally, she'd be up by eight, and she was barely awake even by then. Cat's needed their sleep, after all.

Lately however, Naruto kept having these nightmares that woke him up earlier than little boys like him should be. There was also the constant paining on his neck, from that weird looking scar that she was always very weary of. She'd be awake the minute his feet touched the floor, thanks to her honed senses that kept her alert even when asleep. There was also that niggling feeling in her stomach she only gained recently.

She suspected it came with the job though.

Motherhood, that is.

She bent down and started on the table with her lips quirked down. A year ago Naruto kept having these symptoms as well, just a few days shy of the incident that more or less changed the blonde haired boys' life, and she heard from the doctors nightmares that came from overwhelming grief were potentially deadly.

It was understandable where the grief came from, but the doctors came up with zilch when explaining how he got the scar.

They asked Naruto if he were near any animals before the incident, since the scar looked like something that came from an animal with sharp fangs. To this the blond boy gave a curt reply of no, and told them that he had no idea where it came from when inquired if he knew how he got it.

She narrowed her eyes in thought, picking up the plates and glasses, walking over to place them in the sink, her subconscious reminding her to tell Naruto to do his chores later.

She looked down, and sighed.

Yoruichi took one plate and opened the faucet to start cleaning it herself.

She was still a bit guilty on what she did earlier. Normally, the little boy would have been able to laugh at her little joke, but she should have realized that he was just not in the mood this morning, and her stomach felt very tight when she thought back on the tears that formed in the corner of his cherubic blue eyes.

It suddenly wasn't very funny. And felt very, very painful to know that she was the cause of that.

Finishing the plates and glasses, the Shihouin washed her hands and dried them with the towel from the sinks' side. Leaning in with her back to the sink, Yoruichi placed one of her hands to the tiles of the kitchen sink and paused, looking down and remembering that she was actually wearing an apron from the waist down.

Her hand took hold of the hem of the cloth, her lips curling into a smile as she rubbed her fingers over the yellow and blue fabric.

Naruto's colors

In her century of exile, Yoruichi developed an interest in cooking. It was fun to mix ingredients and create other types of meals. But she found that while it is enjoyable to eat something delicious, the greatest joy comes from the time spent waiting for it. Especially if it was something for the ones you care for. Or perhaps she was just spending too much time with Urahara then. Him and his stupid creepy scientific urges.

The meals however, sometimes got to her clothes while she was on the stove. It was very irritating to wash those off. So she decided to get an apron.

Not her style, really, 'cause even with her new interest she still wasn't the type to cook all the time.

Well, raising a child wasn't too, but hey, look at what she was doing now.

Shopping for it was another thing though, since no one would take care of Naruto when she was gone; she took him with her, and promised that they'd get lunch outside after that. And maybe even buy something else for him while they were at it. She knew that Naruto would come with, even without that promise, but she said that because she wasn't feeling like cooking that day and hey, she could spend some money on her child, right?

Of course, she was a woman, and a woman must always take her time when deciding what to wear, so it didn't exactly take just a few minutes to find what she was looking for. She needed something that suited her perfectly, something not too girly and not too motherly.

This took quite a while and Naruto, as she was browsing through another rack, went to her and tugged at her shirt, making her look down and see the impatient pout on his lips.

And there it was, lying perfectly for her to grab.

The blue fabric that coated most of the cloth was almost as blue as her Naruto's sapphire eyes; the outlines were just the perfect yellow color to match his sunny blonde hair. It was on the lowest rack and it was quite fortunate that Naruto made her bend down too.

Strangely, it was also the last one on the rack, as if it was waiting for her.

She kissing his forehead then, making him blink at the sudden show of affection as she grabbed the apron from the rack and bought it from the clerk.

Naruto looked up at her with those irresistible curious blue eyes when as they exited the store, the question behind them clear as day.

'Why did you pick those?'

She merely directed a mischievously unreadable smile at him and said that it was time that she made good on her promise to treat him out. Those cute chubby cheeks stretched to a beaming smile as his tiny hand grabbed hers and led her to the destination of his liking, making her laugh all the while.

As her mind left memory lane once again, Yoruichi breathed out another sigh and let the apron slide down her fingers. She lowered her head momentarily and closed her eyes. As a Shinigami, she was destined to live a long life, longer than humans, because well, she was technically dead already.

Her life was already past two centuries (a fact which she grudgingly accepted) and the memories she made, good or bad, were already blurry. She can still remember growing up, making friends, and all that important stuff. Those were exceptions, she'll never forget those. However, she can scarcely remember how she lived her life in between, sometimes they were merely fragments that she sometimes needed to piece together before truly remembering.

But with Naruto, every little moment seemed to be stuck in her head, like every second she spent with him seemed to be an important moment that she couldn't forget, every smile he made was always something she wanted to remember, every little laugh, every frown…

Try as she might she could not remember ever being this happy, never remember smiling as much as she had now, never remember how much she laughed as she had now. Naruto, even the few months that she'd spent with him—a pale comparison to how long she existed—changed her life in a way that she never expected.

She sighed—something she had been doing a lot since this morning, she noted—and pinched the bridge of her nose. No matter how small a mistake it was, it was still her fault. As an adult (One that's lived hundreds of years, at that) she should have known better. And it was up to her to make it right.

With that, she untied the ribbon of her apron from her back and placed on the dining table, reminding herself to pick it up later after she finished more important business as she walked up the stairs in a determined stride.

00000000

There was a knock at the door, but Naruto stubbornly refused to answer. He just hugged his favorite stuffed toy—a black cat he named Kitty—tight and frowned at the door. It was very, very clear to him that she just wanted to apologize, but that was why he didn't want to open the door. The blond boy was still a little upset at what happened earlier, and he knew as soon as the words 'I'm sorry' left her lips again he wouldn't be able to stay righteously angry at her anymore. Naruto just wanted to be angry at her a little longer; it felt better to be right now.

"Naruto," her voice was followed by another knock. "Please open the door." Naruto could hear the plea in her voice, and it was becoming harder and harder to not just walking over there and opening the door. Naruto shook his head petulantly to wash away those thoughts. He sniffed a bit and buried his blond head in Kitty's soft artificial fur to prevent looking up and looking at the door again.

"Naruto," Another knock. "_Please._"

Naruto looked up a little at this, noting that her voice was somehow a little desperate than before, and he _never_ heard her that way before. Naruto always saw her with that smile on her face, and rarely has he ever seen her sad. It was new to him, the way she sounded right now, like she was about to lose something very important and was very frantic to find a way to get it back.

Naruto stared at the door for a few more moments in silence. He wasn't aware that at the other side of the door, the woman he called his mom had taken a deep breath, preparing herself for what was to come.

Eventually, he sat stood from his bed headed to the door, still hugging Kitty close to him. He hesitated for a fraction of a second, before tiptoeing— why did the door have to be so far away anyway?— and turning the knob of the door with one of his tiny hand.

-and was immediately swept up in the arms of the dark skinned woman, his face peppered with kisses.

"I'm so sorry, honey. Mama's really new to this whole mother thing." She apologized sincerely.

Naruto's response was to sigh and hug her back, "'s okay, Mama." He says, before giggling, "The hair monster was actually really, really funny." He tightened his embrace on her with his little arms, "'Cause I know Mama wouldn't let it eat me!" he exclaimed confidently, smiling a smile full of trust.

She laughed; glad that this little mess up was over. "That's right." She stroked her hand on his blond locks. "Mama will never let anything hurt you." She kissed the top of his head before burying her cheek into his hair.

"Never." She finished, quietly—determinedly. No hollow, monster or no nothing, will ever hurt her son.

Absolutely nothing.

Naruto giggled again, adding, "And Kitty too, right?" he gestured to the stuff toy that was now crushed between them. "Kitty will always protect me too!"

Yoruichi looked at the small black cat, her lips curled in a secret smile. "Yes, honey." She patted the stuffed animal on the head. "Kitty too."

Right now Naruto was her priority, it didn't really matter whatever kind of trouble comes. Her son was the very warm center of her new world

Maybe she still wasn't all that used to being a mother, but that was okay. She had all the time in the world to learn, time she could now spend raising her son. One day, she was going to let her son go be his own man, make his own decisions and leave her to create his own destiny. When that time came, she knew it would be the hardest thing she will ever do, but she will never regret letting go. Because she knew she had done a great job at the hardest task of all. Being a mother.

00000000

A few ways away from the Shihouin household, a small fox with fur red as blood, observed the mother and son from the window of Naruto's room. Sitting down on top of a wall on the street, its yellow eyes glinted intelligence that belied its species with its small tail swished behind it, as if in thought. Finally, after a few more minutes, the little animal closed its eyes, ears twitching, before turning back and jumping down the wall.

A sound similar to that of a human chuckling could be heard later, fading away into the night.

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…ohhhhh man. Hahaha, I' done screwed up didn't I?

I'm really sorry about that, but life had to come first and I just started college when I began writing this, so I guess I underestimated how busy I would be. Couple that with the overall shit that life threw at me, I guess you could say that….

…I totally forgot about this fic.

NOW WAIT!

Before you throw that tomato at me, know that I will try, emphasis on _try_, to update more. Stil, no promises that I'll do it frequently, on my most busy year after all, what with getting a parttime job and entering my last year in college.

Okay, go ahead and throw that tomato at me now. Or whatever it is you're gonna throw.

Just don't forget to read and review!


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